Harmony
by JennyGranger
Summary: Day 5 of Zutara Week.


Harmony

Katara woke up as suddenly as if someone had doused her with cold water. The cause of this awakening was a sharp pain that had developed in her lower back. Pushing herself into a sitting position, she attempted to massage her soreness away. However, the baby inside her eight month pregnant belly didn't seem to like the movement and shifted, drumming its feet against the taut skin. She groaned slightly as she realized this was the third time tonight this pain had awoken her.

"Can't sleep?"

She couldn't help but jump when the voice of her husband sounded from the darkness next to her. But when his warm hands, infused with possibly a little extra heat, started rubbing away her stiffness and knots, she merely relaxed into his touch.

"Mmm…" she groaned, just enjoying this treatment.

Zuko placed a soft kiss at the base of her neck and they lapsed back into silence. Eventually, Katara muttered something about having to pee and went to stand up. However, when she stood, the pain in her back, which had subsided, seemed to return with a vengeance, and even start to wrap itself around to her abdomen. The suddenness of it caught her off guard and it was only her husband's quick reflexes that kept her off the floor.

"What is it? What's wrong?" he asked, not sure what to do. It was a minute before Katara could answer.

"I… don't know, but…" she paused, knowing once she said this, there was no going back, "it might have been a contraction," she looked up at him, "I think I'm in labor."

He immediately paled and for a terrifying second she thought he was going to pass out. However, he managed to stay conscious, but only to seem terribly caught off guard, as he just stood there and didn't do anything.

"Zuko!" Katara yelled at him, but her chastisement was cut short by another contraction. This was followed by something warm running down her leg. She looked up at her husband, "Go get the Healer!" she yelled, getting tired of his confusion already, "Tell her my water just broke."

Zuko shook his head and snapped himself out of his reverie. Everything was happening so fast, but it felt good to have something to do; he had to find the Healer that had been staying at the palace throughout Katara's pregnancy. He had run out the door into the corridor outside their sleeping quarters and was currently sprinting down towards the room Paean was staying in.

"Aagh!" Zuko had to throw his weight backwards, causing himself to fall to the flagstone floor, when he rounded a corner and almost ran smack into his uncle. A small tinkle of breaking china sounded between them as the elder dropped the cup of tea he had been carrying.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" Iroh asked, then he got a closer look at his nephew's pale, worried face, "Is everything all right, Zuko?"

"I need to get Paean!" he shouted, scrambling back to his feet, "Katara… the baby… water broke…."

It didn't take Iroh long to put the pieces of the younger's disfigured sentence together, but, as Zuko was already long gone down the hallway, he decided to leave the remnants of his tea where it lay for now and go check on his soon-to-be great-niece or nephew.

"Knock, knock," he said, poking his head into the room where Katara resided. He found her slowly lowering herself back into bed, in obvious discomfort. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Did Zuko wake you up?" she asked good-naturedly.

"No," Iroh said, sitting down beside her and placing a hand on her belly, "Though it's not for the lack of trying. I won't be surprised if he wakes the whole nation the way he's going," he paused and they both smiled at the image of Zuko running around like a madman, "How're you holding up?"

"It'll be soon," she answered, "It's been -"

But she was cut off by Zuko bursting into the room, dragging Healer Paean behind him, and speaking so fast it was a wonder she could understand him as he rattled off details of anything he could think of from the last few days.

"…and she's been having back pains. I heard those can be a sign of labor. I should've seen this coming. Why didn't I -"

"Zuko," Paean interrupted him gently, "Why don't you go help Katara lay back so I can examine how far along she is in the labor process?"

Zuko, caught off guard once again by the interruption, seemed to take several seconds to process what she had just said, "Right," he declared, "I'll do that."

Five minutes, and one slap to Zuko's right cheek later, the couple were settled at the foot of the bed, with Katara on her back with her head on Zuko's lap. She looked up and grinned when she saw his face was still red where she had hit him.

"You're going to have a bruise," she said, reaching up and tracing it lightly with her finger.

"I deserved it," he said, grabbing her hand and placing his lips on her delicate fingers, "Thanks again for snapping me back into reality."

Katara could only smile weakly as another contraction came. She closed her eyes and focused on Zuko's and Paean's voices telling her to breathe and relax. But that became harder as the pain became worse with each passing second. After what seemed like an eternity, though, it subsided.

"Okay, Katara," Paean said from her position between Katara's legs, "on this next one, you're going to have to push, all right?"

Katara nodded, but didn't say anything. Throughout this entire process, the pain wasn't the only thing growing; her fear was, too. And it was finally time to face this fear. She took a deep breath as the pain grew again and pushed as hard as she could….

And hour later, only three people remained in the room, all snuggled together in the bed. Neither Zuko or Katara could stop smiling as they watched their daughter nurse. Zuko ran a finger through the black locks of his child, who was darker than him, but lighter than her mother. A perfect mix of two nations, of two people.

"What are we going to name her?" Zuko asked, as the child detached herself from her mother's bosem and blinked placidly, revealing gold eyes. Katara thought for several seconds before answering.

"I've thought about… for a while now…. What about Harmony?" she asked, "I know it would be kind of clichéd, but… I think it fits."

"Yeah…" Zuko said, placing a kiss on Katara's head, "It does fit," he watched as they shifted to burp the baby, "Our little Harmony."


End file.
